Drop and Drink

Drop-and-Drink is my favorite.

The Drop-and-Drinkers come in, dump
“In-Y
our
-Lap” ends up five feet from someone
y thing about
anchor and take off. No setting the
anchor. Just dump and run. Sometimes
ever
y time he anchors. The scar
they take off in a skiff; sometimes
“In-Y
our
-Lap”, is that after he anchors he they dive overboard; sometimes they
produce a drink so quickly it may have
immediately disappears below before he can see appeared by magic. These are happy
how his boat will swing once settled. When,
people. Confident. Not a worry in
the world. There is usually constant
and if, he notices how close he is, he will not
haps the other boat
commotion going on at Drop-and-
Drink’s boat. People come and go;
hesitate to suggest that per
barbecues smoke; dogs and kids roam
is too close to him.
the decks; occasional stereo music can
be heard. They’re raucous and happy.
They never have ice, however.
Don’t see yourself here? Then
you’re probably doing a fine job of
anchoring. If you are described here,
maybe these ideas will help.
1. Before dropping the hook, take
a minute and notice which way the
other boats in the anchorage are facing.
This may give you a better idea of the
direction that anchors and chain/line
are laid out, along with wind direction
and current.
2. Have enough chain on your
anchor. Six feet is not enough. How
much is enough depends on the size of
the boat and the depth of the water that
you typically anchor in. Minimally, one
should have at least one foot of chain
per foot of boat for inside waters. For
outside waters, three feet of chain for
every foot of boat is recommended.
Much of this will depend on the bottom
surface, the depth, and how much the
windlass can handle.
3. As for anchor size, this will
again depend on conditions. Generally,
a “lunch hook” can weigh ½ of the
boat’s length. So, a 30 foot boat could
use a 15 pound anchor for a “lunch
hook.” This same boat would use a 30
pound anchor (minimal) for a working
anchor, and an even heavier anchor for
a storm anchor. Newer, light weight,
burying type anchors can be lighter…
supposedly.
4. If you back down on the anchor,
slow down and don’t be a Plower.
5. It’s probably best to let sailboats
do the “drop and over the top”
method. 48° N
48° No r t h , Se p t e m b e r 2009 pa g e 64
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